A final goodbye

A long and final post.

It’s been a long time (almost 18 months) without a post and the liberal mutual admiration society on this forum brings a smile to my face. A most happy birthday present was delivered on election night November 9, 2016 when Donald Trump kicked Felonia Milhous von Pantsuit to the curb. All of you libs have gone Bat Guano crazy since then and it’s gonna be a fun 8 years watching your hand wringing and crying. MAGA!!

Fast forward to a not so Merry Christmas (2016). I was diagnosed with Stage II Gleason Scale 7 Intermediate Cancer Christmas week. Now the journey began to seek the best course of treatment and to join my wife as a Cancer survivor. One week after our 52nd anniversary I had Cryosurgery at Loma Linda University Surgical Center to freeze the invading tumor(s) at -314 degrees F, not once but twice they were frozen and thawed and frozen again. While it would be a period of time before I would learn if the procedure was successful it was time to fill some of my bucket list. It was also time to get serious about leaving California as we had been planning on for a number years but had not acted upon, now was the time to act.

With approval from my Loma Linda Doctor in June 2017 and a probable good outcome in the forecast I set off to fulfill part of my bucket list. Hooked up the “Redneck Rocketship” and set off to fish the Bass Lakes I dreamed and read about. First stop Lake Fork and Lake Texoma in Texas then Lake Eufaula and Broken Bow in Oklahoma then off to Arkansas.
Met up with my grandson in Fort Smith for breakfast where he was finishing his Masters degree in Geospatial Technology at the University of Arkansas (Go Hogs) and then off to fish Lake Norfork and Bull Sholes. After a private tour of the BassCat factory in Mountain Home where the “Redneck Rocketship” was built it was off to Lake Dardenelle in Alabama. Then on to wet the line in Lake Lanier and Clark Hill in Georgia.

Finally ended up at my ex business partners Lake Greenwood home in Cross Hill, So Carolina to relax, recharge my batteries, get some down home Southern cookin’ and start house hunting. Between house hunting I fished Lake Greenwood, Lake Hartwell, Lake Keowee, Lake Strom Thurmond and Lake Jocassee. I also found time between house hunting, enjoying southern cooking and BBQ to fish in a night tournament on Lake Murray. After 6 weeks it was time to head home and put our home on the market and purchase my wife a plane ticket to go and look at the homes I had picked out.

How ironic it is that we settled in what once was Cherokee territory before the Indian Removal Act and near the town of Easley in an upscale tract named “Pendelton Plantation”. Easley was named after General William Easley one of the original signers of the Secession Declaration and later a Confederate General. Let the hate begin by the lib mutual admiration society. LMAO

This forum and watching the insane news coming out of Sacramento daily is just a constant reminder of the many reasons I left FNN and California. Each and every day I thank my blessings I was wise enough to move to So Carolina and leave California in my rear view mirror. After 72 years it was no longer the California my wife and I were born in, grew up in and raised our family in. My only regret is not doing it sooner, much sooner.

All of the big box stores (Home Depot, Lowes, Costco, Walmart, Sams Club, Cabelas, etc) here are amazing. No crowds, never more than one person ahead of you at check out. Can’t walk down an aisle without a clerk asking how they can help you. At check out they ask if you found everything alright and thank you for shopping with them and have a great day or a blessed day. Even Wal-Mart is a most pleasant experience, I was shocked. Oh and no bag fee, lumber or paint tax and they take your shopping cart to your car and load it without asking. Civil, courteous and polite behavior regardless of the situation or venue is the rule and not the exception. Southern hospitality is the real deal.

A visit to the DMV was like a miracle come true. No appointment needed and I was called to the window before I could take a seat. Walked out with my new real ID driver’s license and new license plates in under 30 minutes, registration was only $31. Oh and I had a choice of plates and chose the one with “In God we Trust” on it and got consecutive numbered plates for all of my vehicles (3). Sales tax on an automobile purchase here has a $500 cap.

No ridicules taxes and fees on everything unlike California. Utilities, insurance and taxes (property, income, sales tax, gas tax) all significantly less. My first electric bill for 34 days was $29 on a 3000sq ft home with an all electric kitchen and laundry. The electric company is a Co-op and has not had a rate increase in over 7 years and give members a rebate at the end of the year. My trash pickup is $12 a month and no recycling to have to sort through and separate. Water bill with sewer is $50 and no water rationing here. Car insurance was $400 less and the home insurance was $700 less than the California rate plus the $1,500 in savings as Earthquake coverage was also not needed. Property taxes are less than ½ the California tax rate and after I have been here a year I get a senior homestead reduction of $50,000 from the accessed evaluation. $2.39 a gal for a gas fill up this morning, a 5 minute slow down to 45 mph is considered a traffic jam on a highway and is rare, also no bullet train to nowhere here. After 5 months I have yet to see a panhandler or homeless person or any graffiti and while I am sure there must be some somewhere I haven’t seen any yet.

Removed the bullet button from my AR 15 on arrival, my Concealed Carry license is in the works, bought a new firearm (9mm pistol) and walked out with it, no 10 day waiting period after the instant background check and it came with two 16 round factory magazines. A Department of Natural Resources (fish& game) shooting range nearby is free and rivals the private club in California I was a member of.

Purchasing a senior lifetime combo hunting and fishing license for a onetime fee of only $9.00. The license is good for Freshwater fishing, Freshwater set hook, Saltwater fishing, State Hunting, Big Game Hunting and includes Wildlife Management Area Permit, Migratory Waterfowl and the license also comes with deer (11) and turkey (3) tags, no limit on Coyotes, Bobcats and Wild Hogs. Enter and/or launch your boat at any of the 46 state parks for $2.00 ($1.25 for seniors), free at county parks. Three lakes with over 1300 miles of shoreline less than 30 minutes from my door to the launch ramp (free). Over 150 waterfalls to see less than an hour from my home, many can only be seen from a boat on the lakes. 45 minutes away from the Blue Ridge parkway and spectacular mountain vistas. Vast variety of fish to chose from in those 3 lakes (Largemouth Bass, Spotted Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Redeye Bass, Stripe Bass, White Bass, Hybrid Bass, Walleye, Trout, Catfish, Black and White Crappie and more varieties of Sun fish than you can count). Fly fishing on the Chattooga River is only 45 minutes away for Brook, Brown and Rainbow Trout. You might remember seeing the Chattooga River as it was where the white water river scenes in the movie “Deliverance” were filmed. Did I say the lakes are huge; you could put all of the lakes in So California in anyone of a half dozen lakes within an hour or less of me and have room left over. No crowds and no speed limits on the lakes here, not unusual to make up to an hour long 70+ mph run from launch to your favorite honey hole. The Coosa River chain rivals the California Delta in total fishing area and variety.

Y’all are getting ripped off royally by the California Fish & Wildlife Dept. DNR (fish & game) here are world class, $10 for a regular hunting or fishing license, DNR habitat placed in the lakes is marked by a buoy and GPS coordinates, a free loaner program for complete rod, reed and tackle is available at state park lakes and free loaner Personal Flotation Device’s are also available. And state Wildlife Management Areas for hunting can’t be beat. Unlike California fishing and hunting are supported here.

My roots and about that Confederate flag y’all have a problem with, ya need to get over it. I have a special reverence for the Stars and Bars as both of my maternal Great Great Grandfathers fought in the Civil War for the South (Company C, Morgan Regiment, Texas Calvary and Company A, 8th Regiment, Missouri Calvary) and one lost a brother in the war with the North. To my surprise the Museum and Library of Confederate History is just 20 minutes away and I have been accepted as a member in the 16th Regiment, S.C. Volunteers, Sons of Confederate Veterans. My maternal kin were not immigrants but were Native Americans and Colonists (1650), my paternal kin were legal immigrants from Europe and Scandinavia in the early 1850’s. I have no issue with legal immigrants only illegal immigrants that are gaming the system, key word “illegal”. No sanctuary state or sanctuary city BS here, no confused sex restrooms and mandatory E-verify makes a huge difference too as teenagers of all races actually have entry level jobs and construction workers have names like Billy Bob and John Boy.

As far as FNN goes it died with the banning of the Bako Boys (Cutbait & Trailblazer). Over 30+ of the very best fisherman, mentors and the most prolific posters have left FNN and are sharing fishing tips, reports and raunchy humor on the Bako Boys facebook page. The banning of TO (Trout Only) and Arthur (Wing Nut) leaving only added to the demise while the lib mutual admiration society continues to spout off its daily BS the final nail in the coffin is slowly being pounded.

The “Devore Flyer” has left……. The “Carolina Reaper” has been born. Y’all have a good life….MAGA

This is not written to anyone in particular. But I would like to address 2 points, where some people have said, "this website was more entertaining in the past."

Point number 1.

In the past when you wrote any fishing report on "ANYTHING" you immediately had to go into a phalanx formation to defend it from all the paranoids and Hater's. How was that better then it is now????? Now you can write any fish report you want and not worry too much about defending it!!!! Isn't this a better system now a day's???? Yet everyone is yearning for the old days!!! No offense to anyone in particular, but are you people stupid????? Or is it maybe something else???

Point number 2.

In the old day (where everyone is now yearning for it) Obama was the first Black President. Because of that the GD section was a shooting gallery on President Obama. I heard Obama was the worst President ever all the time and if we ever could elect another Republican President (and have a Republican Congress) all would be well!!! Well we did and we all can see the results of that. Chaos every where!!! Coincidental taking shots at the President is no longer in Vogue and this website isn't as much fun to most people now. Even though from an writers standpoint of fishing reports, "we are all in Heaven now!!!" Go figure!!!

This is not written to anyone in particular. But I would like to address 2 points, where everyone said this website was more entertaining in the past.

Point number 1.

In the past when you wrote any fishing report on "ANYTHING" you immediately had to go into a phalanx formation to defend it from all the paranoids and Hater's. How was that better then it is now????? Now you can write any fish report you want and not worry about defending it!!!! Isn't this a better system???? Yet everyone is yearning for the old days!!! No offense to anyone in particular, but are you people stupid????? Or is it maybe something else???

In the old day (where everyone is now yearning for it) Obama was President. Because of that the GD section was a shooting gallery on President Obama. I heard Obama was the worst President ever all the time and if we ever could elect another Republican President (and have a Republican Congress) all would be well!!! Well we did and we all can see the results of that. Chaos every where!!! Coincidental taking shots at the President is no longer in Vogue and this website isn't as much fun too most people now. Even though from an writers standpoint of fishing reports we are in Heaven!!!! Go figure!!!

And you have to turn every post into a political diatribe. BIG part of why I do not post much anymore and why I am so careful about wording when I do post. It's not only you, there are several.
Writer? Not when you insist on continuously using multiple punctuation marks throughout your post, mis-placed apostrophes and inappropriate determiners (...from a writer's standpoint...) It is just such an overly annoying habit and it does nothing positive for your message.

And you have to turn every post into a political diatribe. BIG part of why I do not post much anymore and why I am so careful about wording when I do post. It's not only you, there are several.
Writer? Not when you insist on continuously using multiple punctuation marks throughout your post, mis-placed apostrophes and inappropriate determiners (...from a writer's standpoint...) It is just such an overly annoying habit and it does nothing positive for your message.

Poetic license on the punctuation!!!! lol

My next statement is not written to you Marley, but to the other dozen or more people who wrote how much more fun this website was in the past. (I will never answer again with a political statement) But more something like this.

I do understand fishing has changed a lot in the last 5 years. We lost several lakes and other bites just aren't the same. (like DVL Striper fishing) However, this website was filled with haters back then? You couldn't write any fish report without a big chance someone would attack your report badly. Which caused many people to utter those famous departing words. That's the last fish report I will ever write for FNN!

Now to the person (not you Marley) I will ask, why was it more fun in the past to you with all the haters on here? Please tell me in your own words, why you liked it better then besides Irvine Lake was still open to the public? See nothing political there, but I bet I won't get much of an honest response that makes much sense. (like I loved to see all the drama on here) lol Let me try it that way next time and see what happens?

And you have to turn every post into a political diatribe. BIG part of why I do not post much anymore and why I am so careful about wording when I do post. It's not only you, there are several.
Writer? Not when you insist on continuously using multiple punctuation marks throughout your post, mis-placed apostrophes and inappropriate determiners (...from a writer's standpoint...) It is just such an overly annoying habit and it does nothing positive for your message.